ffxiclopediafandomcom-20200213-history
Bard Guide by Tattersail
Category:Guides __TOC__ = So many songs to sing but nothing to wear! = This is the part where we will have to fork up lots of cash. No don't turn away, don't be discouraged. Just go to Jeuno and sing for gil. Ok seriously though, in theory a Bard could get to 75 wearing RSE1 gear and a nice instrument of their own choosing. However having good gear that will benefit your stats is icing on the cake, and we all want cake with some nice icing on it don't we? I haven't had much time to go in depth on the equipment that a Bard can use but Eleri has a nice equipment guide that is still a WIP. At her request I have removed the link until she has posted it as an article. For those looking for a quick fix go with: Wind > Singing > CHR > -song casting time or Fast Cast. = OH NOES! They ask me to pull high chains! = As soon as the ToAU expansion pack came out, it became quite clear how Bard can excel at pulling. If you don't like to pull, don't level Bard. It didn't take me long to figure it out but I figured it'd be nice for aspiring Bards to know what is expected of them. Being asked to pull Experience Chain 100+ can be quite intimidating the first time. Rest assured though, we can easily pull chain 450. Probably higher too, not sure what the highest chain would be. You need to know that there's a timer between kills. It's explained on the Experience Chain page. Until chain 4 you have some time to kill off a mob, buff party and run to get next one. After that though it becomes more fast paced. The idea is to always have 1 mob slept at your party, preferably on top so melee can use their autotarget/attack. You can be the best puller in Vana'diel but if your melee party doesn't kill fast enough, you will break chain. So you also need to try and keep your songs up. What is commonly done; bring mob, sing song, pull new mob. Do not expect to always be able to sing Ballad for your healer. Although that's not so much of a problem with Sanction refresh and the refresh from a Noble's Tunic. Most parties will go for a Red Mage though. Depending on the area where you are pulling and on your party setup (TP burn or conventional), you're also dependent on the respawn of mobs. You may have to pace the pulls to ensure you have enough mobs to kill. Basically, bring mob, buff party, wait till there's but a sliver of HP left on mob, run out and get new one. This can be rather tricky though! You just have to do it until you get the hang of it. As I said, things can get very fast paced. Mostly parties will want March so make sure you got that up on yourself too. Ask your healer to Haste you as well. We need to have our Utsusemi at the ready and the recast timer on Lullaby and Elegy is retarded too. If you're in a double Bard party take the double March songs and let the other Bard do the other songs that are needed. = The Endgame Bard = Yep, endgame.... Some people dread it, some people look forward to it and some people just simply roll in to it. Do not judge based on what others tell you about Endgame. Mostly it's not so much about the activities itself but the people in a Linkshell. Just find yourself a nice group and give it a try. There are various activities that are considered to be Endgame; Dynamis, Einherjar, Hyper Notorious Monster hunting, Limbus, Salvage, Sky. Our most important abilities for Endgame are, Elegy, Ballad, Paeon and back up curing. Elegy in Endgame Elegy is actually -the- most important. So if you are going to get involved with Endgame you will need a Terra's Staff. If you don't and just do XP parties, you can just get by with an Earth Staff. If you are getting resists, check your CHR soft cap first and then pile up on Wind + Singing skill. If you still get some resists on Sky Gods, don't worry. They are mean resistant buggers. Just sub Black Mage for Elemental Seal and you should be good to go. HNM's that are known to require BLM subjob; * Khimaira * Cerberus * Proto-Omega Party Hopping! No, we're not going to go out and party... Remember, Vana'diel good, Earth bad. That's right stay inside and keep playing! Party hopping for Bards can be because there aren't enough Bards or that a party will want more than 2 songs on them. I'll take Byakko as an example. He has alot of Evasion and alot of people will miss. So you will want Madrigal for accuracy bonus. But, Byakko also hits hard and fast so Ninja's usually tank him. So you will want double March on them too. And it could stand to reason that you will want double Minuet for more damage. So what most Linkshells will do, built parties of 5 people (DD party and tank party) and have 3 Bards rotating in and out of the parties. You will need to setup a rotation of course and check which Bard will sing what songs. For those who are asked to be party leaders for this, use the /pcmd add namehere. You won't have to wait for server to update or ask the people to throw their flags up. It's instant invite. Bard Rotation For a lot of situations your Linkshell or Party will want to do a Bard rotation. Usually there will be a Bard in every party that's in the alliance. Party 1 has Bard X, Party 2 has Bard Y, Party 3 has Bard Z. They will call a rotation so that all 3 Bards will have been in every party. At the start of the rotation every Bard will Soul Voice, Troubadour and Nightingale. The Bards will be required to name their Song. If you're smart, the Bard with the highest combined Wind + Singing skill will do what their setup deems most important for the highest + effect. Doing this Bard rotation will allow every party to have 6 songs. You can see how this will knock down your Boss fast right!